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Chapter 13 - Seizures

from Section 3 - Specific Neurological Disorders in Emergency Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2024

By
Kevin M. Kelly ,
Timothy A. Quezada  and
Thomas P. Campbell
Edited by
Thomas P. Campbell  and
Kevin M. Kelly
Thomas P. Campbell
Affiliation:
Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh
Kevin M. Kelly
Affiliation:
Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh
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Summary

There are an estimated 150,000 new cases of epilepsy per year in the United States, with prevalence rates of 7–8 per 1,000 persons. These data, combined with the large number of patients who have seizures from nonepileptic causes, indicate that seizure occurrence is relatively frequent and can result from diverse causes. Although many patients who have a seizure do not need emergency department (ED) care, some present to the ED critically ill and require immediate, definitive management. Advances in the understanding of seizure types and use of new antiseizure medications have enhanced the emergency physician’s ability to diagnose the cause of a patient’s seizures accurately and to treat both the underlying abnormality and the seizures in a rational and systematic fashion.

Keywords

focal onset seizuresgeneralized onset seizuresautomatismsepilepsystatus epilepticuspsychogenic nonepileptic seizureswithdrawal seizuresconvulsivenonconvulsiveantiseizure medication
Type
Chapter
Information
Handbook of Emergency Neurology , pp. 189 - 206
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Ameli, PA, Ammar, AA, Owusu, KA, Maciel, CB. Evaluation and management of seizures and status epilepticus. Neurol Clin 2021;39(2):513–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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Fisher, RS, Cross, JH, D’Souza, C, et al. Instruction manual for the ILAE 2017 operational classification of seizure types. Epilepsia 2017;58(4):531–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kapur, J, Elm, J, Chamberlain, JM, et al. Randomized trial of three anticonvulsant medications for status epilepticus. N Engl J Med 2019;381(22):2103–2113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rossetti, AO, Alvarez, V. Update on the management of status epilepticus. Curr Opin Neurol 2021;34(2):172–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scheffer, IE, Berkovic, S, Capovilla, G, et al. ILAE classification of the epilepsies position paper of the ILAE Commission for Classification and Terminology. Epilepsia 2017;58(4):512–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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